United States President-Elect Joe Biden on Monday warned that more Americans would die if incumbent President Donald Trump does not coordinate with his team to tackle the coronavirus, PTI reported.
“A vaccine is important,” Biden said in Wilmington, Delaware. “It’s of little use until you’re vaccinated. So, how do we get the vaccine, how do we get over 300 million Americans vaccinated? What’s the game plan?”
“So they [Trump administration] say they have this ‘Warp Speed’ program that not only dealt with getting vaccines, but also how to distribute this,” Biden said. “If we have to wait until January 20 [day of presidential inauguration] to start that planning, it puts us behind over a month, month-and-a-half.” He said that it was important to be coordinated with the Trump administration now or as fast as it can happen.
Biden said that his action plan to tackle the pandemic was to deal with every individual and business so as to pull together a consistent plan, making him ready when he takes over as the president of the United States. He said this would be easier if Trump participates. “We have a number of Republicans suggesting that – the good news here my colleague [Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris] is still on the Intelligence Committee so she gets the intelligence briefings,” Biden said.
When asked about Trump’s tweet where he seemed to acknowledge Biden’s win but later refused to concede, the president-elect called it “Trump-ism” and said it was not new.
Biden said that he was already speaking to many world leaders and added that he could begin negotiations with them if needed. “So we are moving along knowing what the outcome will be and … but I find this more embarrassing for the country than debilitating for my ability to get started,” he said.
Presently, the Trump administration is working on its own distribution plan, while Biden’s chief of staff has indicated that his team would continue with their own planning due to the obstruction in the transition of power, according to AP.
Susan Collins, a Republican serving as the senator for Maine, said it was “absolutely crucial that the apparent president-elect and his team have full access to the planning that has gone on” for vaccine distribution.
The senator said that it was not an easy matter to distribute a vaccine. “It is absolutely imperative for public health, that all of the planning that’s gone on for which the current administration deserves credit, be shared with the new administration,” she added.
The US has so far reported over 1.12 crore Covid-19 infections, registering a record-high of 1,77,224 daily cases on November 13, according to the John Hopkins University data. The toll stood at 2,47,202.
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